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Comment by jasonlotito

8 hours ago

That doesn't show they were purged. There are many reasons their numbers declined.

Just like there are many reasons why the climate is getting warmer, not just humans.

See how easy hand waving is?

  • That human industrial activities are the primary direct causation of the currently observed climate change is a scientific fact, proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

    What you show is that there are not many conservatives in academia. The reason for that is manifold. It could be that they are forced out. It could be that their views are changed with higher learning and turn progressive. It could be that conservatives self-select to not go into academia.

    Pointing that out is not hand-waving.

> That doesn't show they were purged. There are many reasons their numbers declined.

Fun fact, what you're arguing is actually one of the reasons Charlie was murdered.

He notoriously said that the Civil Rights Act was a mistake. He specifically referred to Title VII which states even a neutral policy can be racism if it produces disparate impact[1] in practice. That is, if a neutral policy results in fewer black people being hired, that's evidence of racism. Charlie disagreed with that.

It's fun to see leftists argue the same when it comes to discrimination against right wing or centrist academics.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disparate_impact

  • Well, a key difference is that race is an intrinsic immutable attribute, and political views aren't.

    The paradox of tolerance is real. And more practically, it's impossible to guarantee representation of all viewpoints because there are an infinite number of them.

    • > race is an intrinsic immutable attribute

      Is it?

      Care you define who makes up the "white race"? Or any other overly-broad category that typically gets bandied about as "race"?

      From my perspective, as someone who is flexibly categorized as "white" or "latino", depending on whatever is most convenient for the categorizer, "race" is a remarkable fluid label. Most people can't even agree on what "race" folks of mixed ethnic heritage actually are.

      Race is a social construct. There's nothing intrinsic or immutable about any social construct.

      5 replies →

    • > that race is an intrinsic immutable attribute

      Not to those familiar with the history of the US Census racial classifications, given the number of times the categories shifted and changed it seems more than a little opinionated.

      2 replies →